Source: Auditless Research
Original Title: 20 Predictions for Crypto in 2026
Note: This article does not constitute investment advice for prediction markets.
As 2025 draws to a close amidst silence and growing pains, we once again begin to question everything—from blue-chip chains like Optimism and Bitcoin to artificial intelligence, without exception.
Below are some predictions in areas I personally follow (please note: these areas may not necessarily align with what is truly important).
Reviewing this article at this time next year should be a useful exercise; at the very least, it will serve as a reminder: don't take the words of online writers too seriously :).
Prediction List
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Fintech Public Chains Do Not Create Value for ETH: Ethereum will become a marketing term, and the "Ethereum community" will refocus on its asset value.
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Stablecoins Will Outnumber Layer2s: Their mechanisms are similar, but the barrier to issuing stablecoins is much lower. Overall, the industry will learn to monetize Total Value Locked (TVL) as deeply as it monetizes trading volume.
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End of the Rollup Cluster Narrative: The model of sacrificing significant sequencer fees for inter-Rollup connectivity will disappear or become commoditized. Major exit events will occur in key Rollup clusters.
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Privacy Track Loses Momentum: Large-scale adoption of privacy technology still requires multiple iterations; the current value surge may be premature.
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On-Chain ETF-ization and the End of Retail Mining: Through tools like gtUSDa, users will shift from farming specific vaults to depositing funds into standardized vaults managed by collateral assets (e.g., USDC, ETH).
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"Trustless Asset Management" Protocol Hacked, Losing Over $100 Million: Protocol architecture will return to the spotlight. Although I do not wish for this, the rapid growth of this sector, the influx of participants into yield projects, and the current trend of protocols taking shortcuts make such an event highly likely. We have done our utmost to build the most secure on-chain asset management architecture, but it is still shocking to see large amounts of funds deposited into vaults that are essentially just multi-signature wallets.
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First Bitcoin Layer2s Launch: Despite limited attention and a still chaotic narrative, several teams are working behind the scenes on Bitcoin Layer2s. Their launch will challenge the notion that "BTC is just a meme coin or an outdated relic."
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First Non-USD Stablecoins Gain Adoption: A GBP stablecoin might not attract interest, but a Swiss franc or Singapore dollar stablecoin would be a different story. This direction is worth exploring in depth.
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Rollups Compete Through Applications: "General-purpose Rollups" without killer apps will struggle fiercely in the battle for transaction volume.
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AI Replaces Communities and Social Media as the Channel for Asset Discovery: The hype around meme coin communities has already peaked.
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Traditional NFT Collections Will Not Recover Next Year: But expect an increase in asset tokenization cases using the ERC721 standard, even if it's just for Pokémon cards.
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A Well-Known Celebrity Issues a Creator Token on Base Chain, Then Everyone Forgets: Creator tokens will follow the trajectory of meme coins and friend.tech. When early holders actually start to incur losses, a negative feedback loop will hinder the long-term sustainability of the current model.
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Mainstream Issuers Develop Custom Uniswap v4 Liquidity Pools and Control Liquidity: Initially focusing on real-world asset (RWA) and compliance (KYC) use cases.
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Exchanges and Other Integrators Scramble to Recommend On-Chain Products: Because they have figured out monetization pathways (own chain, own stablecoin, revenue sharing, etc.).
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"Future Governance" Replaces "Retroactive Funding": Advanced through launch platforms and synchronized campaign platforms like Butter.
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Token Launches Resurgence: With regulatory support and better launch platforms, more teams will dare to issue tokens. This partly depends on asset prices in 2026, but we should also see token issuance via future governance platforms become an early-stage financing method.
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"Delegates" Decline: The power of DAOs and their delegates will significantly diminish as they are no longer a legal necessity. Protocols not irreversibly tied to the DAO model will gain a competitive advantage in growth momentum.
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Network States Issue Real Assets and Become the Focus of Crypto (For About a Week): Whether through real estate ownership or token issuance, the time for the next step of exploration has arrived.
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AI Vulnerability Detection Tools Show Initial Results: The first tools capable of independently discovering smart contract vulnerabilities are born, but they still cannot replace audits. Teams relying solely on AI audits will suffer losses.
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1–2 Major Prediction Market Betting Categories Disappear: Insider incentives leading to market unfairness are exposed; platforms will either self-regulate or face external regulation.
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